ORWIGSBURG, Pa. -- One family's grocery shopping spree helped benefit an area volunteer fire company in Schuylkill County.
The Community Fire Company in New Ringgold raised money by selling raffle tickets with the winner getting 10 minutes to fill up carts with items from a local grocery store.
You could call Brandon Bevan of Hamburg a man on a mission.
He used his 10 minutes to get as many groceries into carts at Boyer's IGA in Orwigsburg. His plan was to get as much as possible, since whatever he gets is free.
“Meat, seafood, and candy for my son,” said Bevan.
Judging from what Bevan loaded into his cart, it was a lot more than those three items.
Bevan won this shopping spree through a fundraiser put on by the community Fire Company in New Ringgold. Volunteers with the fire company sold raffle tickets with the winner getting to take a mad dash around the grocery store.
“Anytime we can raise some funds on our own, it eases our burden with equipment and all that stuff and the maintenance of the trucks and all that stuff, so that's on going all the time,” said Gary Schaeffer, one of the volunteer firefighters.
“We like to get together with our local non-profit organizations and do our part as a community citizen. It's important for us to be close to the neighborhood that we're in,” said Frank Tipa, a manager at Boyer’s.
The fire company says this is the second year it's held this fundraiser, and it appears to be a successful one, saying it sold 400 raffle tickets at $10 a pop.
Speaking off success, Bevan took in more than $1,200 worth of groceries.
“I think he did really good, really good,” said Bevan’s wife, Laura. “I think he could have went with some more healthier options, but I guess meat with a side of meat is what we're having for dinner.”
Now for the hard part, finding where to put all this food.
“I have a freezer, a chest freezer at home that's for hunting season. So, I don't know, maybe we'll delay the hunting a little bit this year,” laughed Bevan. “But definitely going to put that in the freezer, and if need be, get another.”